Novelty grenade prompts bomb scare near New York's 'Ground Zero'

April 12, 2012|Reuters

2 World Financial Center in New York City, N.Y. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A novelty hand grenade briefly prompted the evacuation of one of the buildings near "Ground Zero," the site where New York's World Trade Center towers stood until they were brought down in the September 11 attacks, police said Thursday.

The evacuation of 2 World Financial Center was triggered around 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) after an x-ray of a package at the building appeared to reveal an explosive device inside, New York City Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

It was actually a novelty hand grenade on a plaque that read "complaint department, pull the pin" that had been sent to one of the tenants, Nomura Holdings, Browne said.

Police have given the all-clear, allowing employees to return to the building, one of a cluster of towers along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan just to the west of where the Twin Towers stood.

The structure was severely damaged by falling debris when the Trade Center's Twin Towers collapsed after having jetliners flown into them on September 11, 2001. The building had to be closed for repairs until May 2002 as a result of the damage.